Iron Man 2 had a relatively long runtime of 124 minutes. The viewers can expect to see all that they’re familiar with from the Iron Man movie franchise, including intense action sequences with excessive levels of destruction, impressive special effects throughout, and Tony Stark’s completely over the edge and full of himself personality. New additions include additional characters from the Iron Man DC universe, minimal back-story into Tony Stark’s family, and limited to negligible character development. Whiplash is severe and ominous, and the action has been taken up a few notches, but that’s about it. If you’re looking for entertainment and action, Iron Man 2 does very well. Iron Man 2 has a simple plot, is suitable for children, and is pretty much an extension of the elements from the first Iron Man movie, with very little that is really new. The movie remains light all through, and has casual comic elements to it. After the first half the movie did tend to drag a little, with the scenes being slow and stretched.
For those who have watched the first Iron Man movie from 2008, I’m sure it comes as no surprise that Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark is perfection personified. He’s obsessive, compulsive, witty, insufferably narcissistic, somewhat eccentric, and unnecessarily extreme. It’s safe to say at this point the Robert Downey has solidified his position as Iron Man to the point that future sequels will be impossible without him. Mickey Rourke, a new addition to the Iron Man franchise was again simply flawless. He came across as passionate, driven, vengeful, and ruthless. The intensity with which he brought Whiplash’s character to life was perhaps one of the highlights of the movie. Don Cheadle as Lt. Col. James 'Rhodey' Rhodes played the voice of reason, bringing a sense of seriousness to the movie. Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts did a good job of seeming up to her neck in Iron Man drama clean-up; an adequate performance overall. Jon Favreau who stars as Happy Hogan, Tony Stark’s chauffeur, added comic relief in a silly bumbling sorta way. Incidentally Favreau is also the director of both the Iron Man movies.
I’d considered watching this one in the theatre, but owing to schedule conflicts was forced to catch the DVD. As in most cases, being a Region 1 US DVD, video and color were bright and clear for most part, with Red and Gold tones being a little over emphasized; that being intentional off course. There were some dark scenes though where definition was average. Sound was spot on, and the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack accompanied the action sequences perfectly.
My Recommendation: Watch It (A must for those who can’t get enough of Iron Man)
